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☆ Warren, AOC press top Silicon Valley Bank depositors about any cushy treatment they received
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — Two top progressive lawmakers questioned whether Silicon Valley Bank offered its largest depositors unusually cushy treatment, one month after the institution collapsed and sparked broader damage to the banking system. "Silicon Valley Bank's unusually cozy relationship with its clients increased the threat of contagion when the bank went under," Warren said in a statement. "The American people deserve to know how these mutual backscratching arrangements developed, who benefitted from them, and what role they played in Silicon Valley Bank's failure." Over 95% of the bank's deposits were uninsured as of December, which threatened companies' ability to make payroll after the bank failed. Warren and Ocasio-Cortez asked the depositors to provide details on any special treatment they received from SVB by April 24.

☆ Premarket stocks: The FDIC could ask big banks to clean up $23 billion mess
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

While regional and mid-sized banks are behind the recent turmoil, it appears that large banks may be footing the bill. Ultimately, that means higher fees for bank customers and lower rates on their savings accounts. The law also gives the FDIC the authority to decide which banks shoulder the brunt of that assessment fee. Passing it on: Regardless of who’s charged, the fees will eventually get passed on to bank customers in the end, said Isaac. In 2021, Wall Street was estimated to be responsible for 16% of all economic activity in the city.

☆ The FDIC might make big banks fill the $23 billion hole left by its rescue of SVB and Signature Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The FDIC is looking at $23 billion in costs from the SVB and Signature Bank failures. Bloomberg reported the agency may push big banks to shoulder a larger-than-usual share of those costs. The FDIC is under political pressure to spare small banks from filling the hole in the agency's coffers. A special assessment may be applicable to bank behemoths such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. The cost of the bank failures has piled up because the FDIC, the US Treasury, and the Federal Reserve said all depositors at SVB and Signature Bank would fully protected.

☆ Senate Democrats led by Elizabeth Warren press federal bank regulators to implement stronger capital requirements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats are pressing federal banking regulators to toughen bank capital requirements following back-to-back congressional hearings where officials testified about the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. "We write to urge you follow through with establishing strong capital requirements that protect consumers and taxpayers, and preserve the safety and soundness of our banking system," Warren, along with Sens. Under the "stress capital buffer" implemented at the time, the capital requirements for banking firms is determined annually according to supervisory stress tests. The lawmakers urged regulators to enforce strong capital requirements to fend off aggressive lobbying from Wall Street and safeguard against more bank failures. "In order to prevent future bank crises and protect working Americans, I urge your agencies to quickly implement strong capital requirements and resist industry pressure to weaken or delay these requirements."

☆ FDIC to consider bank size in applying 'special assessment fee'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The special assessment fee, which is required by law, will help the FDIC cover losses to its deposit insurance fund from backstopping depositors at Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed earlier this month. Some banking groups have urged the Biden administration and the FDIC to temporarily guarantee all U.S. bank deposits, a move they say will help quell a crisis of confidence after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). The fall of SVB and Signature, the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, sent investors scurrying to safe havens like bonds while depositors moved funds to bigger institutions and money market funds. Depositors tried to pull more than $42 billion in a single day at SVB in early March, surprising regulators and kicking off bank runs across other regional banks. Reporting by Jaiveer Shekhawat and Hannah Lang; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueMarch 29 (Reuters) - The scope of blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure stretches across bank executives, Federal Reserve supervisors and other regulators, the banking system's top cop on Wednesday told U.S. lawmakers demanding answers for the lender's swift collapse. "I think that any time you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed and our regulatory system failed," Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress. 'SOME REAL FLAWS'Barr told the House Financial Services Committee that he first became aware of stress at Silicon Valley Bank on the afternoon of March 9, but that the bank reported to supervisors that morning that deposits were stable. The Fed was in discussions with Silicon Valley Bank the day before its collapse to move pledgable collateral to the discount window, a key facility long associated with providing emergency loans to banks, Barr said on Wednesday. "(Fed) staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible to the discount (window) on Friday," Barr said.

"I think that any time you have a bank failure like this, bank management clearly failed, supervisors failed and our regulatory system failed," Michael Barr, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision, told Congress. REPORTS DUE MAY 1Both the Fed and FDIC are is expected to produce reports on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank by May 1. Barr told the House Financial Services Committee that he first became aware of stress at Silicon Valley Bank on the afternoon of March 9, but that the bank reported to supervisors that morning that deposits were stable. Gruenberg of the FDIC told lawmakers he also became aware of SVB's stress that Thursday evening. "(Fed) staff were working with Silicon Valley Bank basically all afternoon and evening and through the morning the next day to pledge as much collateral as humanly possible to the discount (window) on Friday," Barr said.

House lawmakers tore into top U.S. bank regulators Wednesday, questioning their competency and saying examiners were asleep at the wheel, at a second day of congressional hearings this week about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight on March 10 and March 12. "We need competent financial supervisors, but Congress can't legislate competence," House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., told top officials at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and FDIC at the beginning the hearing. "The light touch cautions from the Fed to SVB management are clearly not what Congress intended for bank supervision," said Waters. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, Mich., demanded raw, confidential supervisory information about the banks, available to regulators ahead of the collapses. Members of the Republican majority House challenged many of the decisions made by regulators in the hours and days after SVB collapsed and Signature Bank followed 48 hours later.

☆ Premarket stocks: How big of a problem is greedflation?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“Executives at SVB and Signature [Bank] took wild risks and must be held accountable for exploding their banks,” Warren said. Republican Senators say the Fed’s focus on climate change led to banking turmoilRepublican Senators repeatedly insinuated on Tuesday that the recent US banking turmoil came as a result of the Federal Reserve’s focus on climate change. In his opening statement, Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the ranking member of the banking committee, called the Fed’s focus on climate change a waste of time. It’s what our supervisors do all the time.”In an interview with Montana Public Radio in 2014, Daines said that “the jury’s still out” on whether climate change is real. The public reasonably expects supervisors to require that banks understand, and appropriately manage, their material risks, including the financial risks of climate change.”

☆ What to expect from the Senate hearings on recent bank failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Silicon Valley Bank’s liquidity crisis and subsequent downfall sent waves of panic through the financial system in early March, setting off a chain reaction of chaos with which regional banks are still grappling. On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee will continue with their own line of questioning. Sen. Brown has called for the executives of Silicon Valley Bank to be held accountable for the bank’s failure. “Our banking system is sound and resilient, with strong capital and liquidity,” Barr said. The failures of SVB and Signature Bank, he wrote, “demonstrate the implications that banks with assets over $100 billion can have for financial stability.

☆ Premarket stocks: Banking chaos could break the strong job market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —The job market has remained strong even as the Federal Reserve has spent a full year attempting to cool off the economy by raising interest rates. But economists think that the recent banking turmoil may be what finally raises unemployment. Even with those big job cuts, the labor market in the United States remains white hot. Since the pandemic, regional banks “have provided a vast majority of lending to small firms, underwriting local small business formation,” said Philip Wool, an analyst with asset manager Rayliant. AI will likely lead to job loss, they wrote, but technological innovation that initially displaces workers has historically created employment growth over long haul.

March 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. An interest rate decision in Thailand and Australian inflation top a light Asian calendar on Wednesday, with broader risk appetite likely to be tempered by a further rebound in U.S. bond yields. But this relief is running up what looks like a renewed spike higher in bond yields and borrowing costs, which is dampening risk appetite. One curiosity is the dollar, weakening again on Tuesday despite the rise in U.S. bond yields. Indeed it mostly struggled to catch a safe-haven bid when the banking stresses were most acute and is now struggling even when U.S. yields are rising.

The nation's top bank regulators will face tough questions for the first time Tuesday about how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed practically overnight earlier this month. This allowed the FDIC to guarantee hundreds of billions of dollars in uninsured deposits at the banks, money that might otherwise have been wiped out. Both Republicans and Democrats on the 29-member panel questioned whether these deposit guarantees amounted to a government bailout for rich account holders. "One clear takeaway from recent events is that heavy reliance on uninsured deposits creates liquidity risks that are extremely difficult to manage," the FDIC's Gruenberg said in his written testimony. "Particularly in today's environment where money can flow out of institutions with incredible speed in response to news amplified through social media channels."

WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Lawmakers are expected to put top U.S. bank regulators on the defensive over the unexpected failures of regional lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank when they testify before Congress on Tuesday. Regulators have vowed to review their rules and procedures after the twin failures while insisting the overall system remains sound. Tuesday's hearing at the Senate Banking Committee will give lawmakers the chance to press watchdogs on what went wrong on their watch, and push preferred policy prescriptions. They just didn't," said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, at a banking industry conference last week. Some Democrats, including major bank critic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have also argued a 2018 bank deregulation law is to blame.

☆ FDIC chair: Financial system continues to face significant downside risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFDIC chair: Financial system continues to face significant downside risksCNBC's Steve Liesman reports on upcoming comments from FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, who's expected to testify before Congress on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. banking regulator is investigating potential misconduct on the part of executives and others involved in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Gruenberg did not offer further details into who or what may be the subject of probes, which could be one of several under way by the U.S. government. It is common for the government to open probes into such events, and such investigations do not necessarily result in charges of misconduct. But its sudden collapse has also raised questions about what executives knew about the bank's struggles and what they disclosed with investors, the sources said. Reporting by Pete Schroeder and Chris PrenticeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ First came bank failures. Now comes the House hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Federal regulators are being called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. What lawmakers are saying: Elected officials want a review of what happened at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month, as well as stricter regulations to prevent it from happening again. Regulators on March 12, just days after SVB collapsed, announced a guarantee of all deposits at the bank and Signature Bank. What to expect: It’s unclear what will come of the hearings on SVB and Signature Bank. Wednesday: The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing on the banking crisis continues for a second day.

☆ Key lawmakers say upcoming hearings on bank failures aim to boost U.S. confidence in banking sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers overseeing the recent turmoil in the banking sector said Wednesday that they aim to increase Americans' confidence in the banking industry after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed over the last two weeks. Regulators and lawmakers are also trying to contain further damage to the economy and reinforce confidence in the banking system. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, also said writing new laws should take a back seat at the hearings to investigating what happened. We can't legislate that either in the financial sector or among financial institutions management, nor with the regulators." Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat and chairman of Senate Banking Committee, compared the SVB collapse to the devastating train crash in East Palestine, Ohio.

☆ Senators call on former Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank CEOs to testify
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — Bipartisan leaders of a Senate committee investigating the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank called Thursday for both institutions' former CEOs to testify about the collapses that have sparked fears about broader economic damage. Ex-SVB CEO Gregory Becker and former Signature CEO Joseph DePaolo "must answer for" their banks' "downfall," wrote Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Tim Scott, R-S.C., in letters to the former executives. Brown and Scott are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Brown and Scott urged the two former executives to answer the panel's questions "at a future date."

☆ Mistakes the Fed Keeps Making
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Mickey D. Levy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Every time the Federal Reserve has maintained easy monetary policy too long and then raised rates abruptly, the consequences have been jarring. Even when the economy managed to avoid recessions, it couldn’t avoid bumps on the road. Every episode is different, but every episode exposes the weak links. Martin Gruenberg , chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., recently estimated that banks faced $620 billion in paper losses at year-end 2022. The Fed’s misleading forecasts have contributed to the costs of reducing inflation and risk a banking crisis.

☆ US Senate Banking Committee to hold hearings on Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Banking Committee will hold the first of several hearings on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on March 28, Democratic Chairman Sherrod Brown said on Tuesday. "It is critical that we get to the bottom of how Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed so that we can maintain a strong banking system, protect Americans' hard-earned money, and hold those responsible accountable, including the CEOs," Brown said. Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by federal regulators on March 10, with Signature Bank following suit a few days later. Multiple federal agencies - including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission - are probing SVB. Last week, Brown told reporters that new bank industry legislation is unlikely to emerge from Congress.

☆ Fed, FDIC officials to testify on recent bank failures before House committee March 29
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) logo is seen through broken glass in this picture illustration taken March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The top regulatory officials for the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will testify before a House panel on March 29 to discuss the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). The House Financial Services Committee announced the hearing on Friday, and said future witnesses may be added. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg are scheduled to testify. Reporting by Pete Schroeder Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Democratic lawmakers urge US to probe Goldman's role in SVB collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"(We) wish to raise our concerns over the role of Goldman Sachs Group in advising SVB and in the purchase of its bond portfolio," the letter said. Californian regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank last Friday and appointed FDIC as receiver. U.S. prosecutors are investigating the SVB collapse, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters this week. Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter by lawmakers. Financial stocks have lost over billions of dollars in value since Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) collapsed last week.

"Not only are these big banks not sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring, they are also being proactive." Amid the nation's most troubling turmoil in banking since the global financial crisis nearly 15 years ago, the big banks are flexing their collective muscle. The 2008 financial crisis humbled the banking behemoths; the 2023 crisis of regional banks has now only cemented their power. For an increasingly stretched financial system, the big banks provide a needed stability. The flight to safety that is benefiting the big banks will have a cost, however.

☆ US regulators say deposits into First Republic Bank show system's resilience
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - Federal regulators and the Treasury Department on Thursday welcomed a decision by 11 larger banks to deposit $30 billion into regional bank First Republic Bank (FRC.N) and said it showed the resilience of the U.S. banking system. "This show of support by a group of large banks is most welcome, and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system," they said. First Republic was one of the banks that had been under more stress amid worries of another run on a regional bank, and a significant shift in deposits to larger banks. The rescue plan executed for First Republic averts an outright takeover of the bank by a larger institution, which would have run counter to a broad White House push against excessive concentration in other U.S. sectors. Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Rami Ayyub; editing by Dan Whitcomb and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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